Review: XVI, Julia Karr

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal; she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world & even the most predatory of men that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past, one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Julia Karr grew up in Seymour, Indiana. She has lived all around the US but now resides close to her hometown. She has two daughters.Her love for writing has been a part of her all her life. After having children and reading to them she grew into writing stories for children. For more information visit http://juliakarr.com

This books proves again that I am not made for dystopian novels. The story is good very strong but I cannot get used to worlds that different. I start to imagine all these weird and impossible things and it does not feel right. After I try to morph the whole dystopian world back into something familiar so I can at least make an effort to keep up with the story without being to distracted but that is not always working either. It is a shame cause as mentioned already this is a strong story.
The main character Nina is your average 15 year old girl. As a woman you will definitely be able to get identify with her. The other characters are brought to you trough Nina's mind giving you a bit of a colored opinion on them but that helps with attaching to the right characters and building up aversion against the bad people. The author did a good job on this.
The story could be placed in any time, past, present and future. Girls and their sexuality. How man (mis) treat them and decide for them when they are ready. Not much respect there. That message is very clear. But unfortunately for this book it is all set in a futuristic world where people can be tracked with GPS and girls get tattoos and there are little carts floating but still in need of roads and as soon as that whole world kicks in I loose concentration.
For lovers of dystopian books this is a to read for sure. Specially Hunger Games and Mortal Instrument readers will enjoy this book. For me it has been a pleasant and entertaining reminder to stay away from dystopian novels.